1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to firearms, and more particularly to firearm safety mechanisms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is continuing concern about the prevalence of handguns and other firearms in our society. One of the objections to firearms relates to the use of these weapons by unauthorized persons. Tragic accidents occur when children happen upon weapons, often in their own homes, and attempt to play with them. Most revolvers do not have a safety. The safety mechanisms that are found on firearms are not adequate to prevent injury, as curious children will often move the safety to the "off" position without their knowledge. A measure of safety can be obtained by removing the bullets from the weapon, but it is time consuming to load a weapon in an emergency situation and the danger exists that the gun will not be loaded when it is needed immediately.
Another alarming situation is encountered when unauthorized persons wrestle weapons from police officers or private citizens and turn them on the owner or others. The safety is only a slight impediment to firing the weapon, and at best gives the police officer or owner only an instant in which to retrieve the weapon.
A safety, if present on the handgun, should remain "on" much of the time. Policemen rarely draw their handguns, and often carry the weapons home during off-duty hours. Homeowners especially should leave firearms with the safety "on", particularly where children are present in the home.
A number of locking mechanisms have been devised to retard the unauthorized use of firearms. Locks have been created which attach to the trigger area of a firearm to prevent access to the trigger, and thus to render the weapon inoperable. Representative patents include Bako, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,681, and Cervantes, U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,341. These locks are cumbersome and difficult to remove from the weapon, even by the authorized user. This can reduce the effectiveness of the weapon in emergency situations. The police officer in immediate need of the weapon, or the private citizen who must use the weapon for self defense, cannot tolerate significant delays in rendering the weapon operable. External locks must also be carried when not attached to the weapon in order to keep the lock at hand. Other mechanical locks require keys which can be easily lost or misplaced and are difficult to manipulate in the dark.
Most mechanical locks are difficult or impossible to open without looking at the lock. These locks present problems at night, during emergency situations when the eyes cannot be taken from another person or object, or when the user might not have on glasses necessary for close-in vision.
Electronic locks for firearms have been devised. These mechanisms render the firearm operable or inoperable upon the reception of a suitable signal that is produced by a remote signal-generating unit carried by the authorized user. Examples of such devices are found in Heltzel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,435, and Lemelson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,370. These devices are not desirable insofar as the signal-generating device can be lost or misplaced by the authorized user, after which the locking mechanism will be inoperable. Also, dead batteries can render these devices useless.
Still another type of lock for a firearm is intended to prevent the accidental discharge of the weapon which sometimes occurs when the gun is dropped or jarred. Such a lock is disclosed by Largen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,240. These mechanisms typically involve a pressure-activated release that is provided in a portion of the firearm that is in contact with the user when the weapon is held in the firing position, such as in the butt of a gun stock or the hand grip of a handgun. The safety is deactivated when the release is moved by the placement of the gun stock against the shoulder or by grasping the hand grip. Should the weapon be dropped, relaxation of pressure on the release will automatically lock the weapon against accidental discharge. These locking mechanisms are effective only to prevent firing of the weapon when the gun is not positioned properly, and thus do not discriminate between authorized and unauthorized users.
It would be desirable to provide a weapon which could be locked against unauthorized use, yet readily activated by an authorized user. It would further be desirable if the locking mechanism would prevent accidental discharge of the weapon when it is dropped or jarred. It would also be desirable if the locking mechanism would require no external accessories, such that the authorized user could readily activate, or deactivate, the weapon at any time. It would also be desirable to provide a firearm which can be activated or deactivated without viewing the lock.